Wing Chun:Taking you back

Martial arts is truly spectacular, with diverse disciplines and schools of thought. One must’ve come across different forms of martial arts over the years. However, one that specifically captured our attention, was Wing Chun.

Practiced largely by Shaolin Monks today, this form of martial arts originates from Foshan city, which is located in the province of Guangdong, south of China. Wing Chun is a branch or an extension of Shaolin Nan Quan.

How it all started

Wing Chun is all about mobility and quick body movements, with emphasis on disciplined and controlled self defense. Yan Yong Chun, who is considered to be the legendary founder of Wing Chun martial arts, witnessed a fight between a crane and a snake, leading upto the creation of Quan martial arts. He later went on to perfect the art, under the influence of Wumei, who was a Buddhist Nun, under whom Yan grew up with.

Hence, Wing Chun was originally inaugurated by YanYang Yong Chun, whose work was later spread by a renowned practitioner called Leung Jan, popularly known as Mr. Jan. He continued to prosper under the Ip man, who was the grand master of Wing Chun.

Wing Chun over the years

You must’ve come across the movie franchise ‘IP Man.’ Well, the Ip man franchise is inspired by Wing Chun martial arts, reminiscing the Ip Man. Chong hua Dong, who is the second-generation heir or inheritor of Ip man's Wing Chun, always dreamed of becoming a martial artist as a child.

While often getting bored and willing to give up during the highly disciplined training of Wing Chun, he continued to persevere and eventually held on, after being enrolled in the martial arts academy of the legendary Bruce Lee’s master in Foshan.

Today, we have witnessed the display and portrayal of Wing Chun martial arts in the Ip man, making people realize the significance of the art and how it involves the use of swift body movements, acting as a true form of self defense, characterized by agility and mobility.

Wing Chun, also referred to as Ving Tsun, is a kungfu style used for self-defence. Wing Chun revolves around quick arms motions and strong legs to outdo the opponents. The emergence of wing Chun remains unknown but is attributed to the development of Southern Chinese martial arts.

The main reason the origin of wing Chun has little documentation is attributed to the mode of transmission because it was passed to the learner from the teacher through verbal means only. There was thus no writing hence a lack of proper documentation of the history of how the martial art evolved.

Another reason its origin remains a mystery is that those involved in it carried out their activities with a lot of privacy. The privacy was attributed because it was associated with Anti-Qing rebellious movements.

How Powerful Is Wing Chun?

Trainers and other individuals conversant with the martial art have said that if well applied, Wing Chun makes a potent self-defence mechanism compared to other forms of martial arts. What makes the art powerful are the fundamentals in the art that mainly focuses on defence that aims at acquiring victory from the opponents. If one is passionate about martial arts, one can differentiate the difference between Wing Chun and other forms of martial arts.

How hard or easy is it to learn Wing Chun?

How easy or hard it is to learn Wing Chun depends on an individual. Some individuals may take a short while to learn, while others will take a long time. One has to be passionate andinvolvehard work and commitment because no one is born with the art. This is thus based on an individual's effort.